Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Feb.16
By Demir Azizov- Trend:
The Board of Directors of the World Bank has approved granting of loan worth $195 million to Uzbekistan for the project on construction of the Angren-Pap railroad with a total cost of $1.634 billion, the representation of the World Bank in Tashkent told Trend.
The loan, the funds of which will be directed for purchase of the necessary equipment for the electrification of railways, will be provided by the resources of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD, a part of the WB) for 25 years with a five-year grace period.
Uzbekistan started construction of the Angren-Pap new electrified railway in July 2013. The railway line with a length of 129 km would run through the Kamchik pass and link the three oblasts in the east of the country - Andijan, Namangan and Fergana - with the remaining part of Uzbekistan. The project envisages the construction of two tunnels.
Uzbekistan Railways State Joint Stock Railway Company and China Railway Tunnel Group signed a contract for tunnel construction worth $455 million in September 2012.
Plans are to construct a 19-kilometer tunnel under the Kamchik pass as part of the project.
Completion of construction is scheduled for April 2016, and commissioning of the railway to take place in July 2016.
In addition to the loan of the WB, the project worth $1.9 billion is financed at the expense of the Uzbek Reconstruction and Development Fund, the state budget, the Uzbek railway company's own funds and loans of the international financial institutes, as well as the loan of Chinese Eximbank worth $350 million.
The loan was issued for a period of 20 years, including a five-year grace period, at a rate of 2.25 percent per annum
The Kamchik pass is on the Kurama Range at 1,200 meters above sea level.
Through the pass is the only automobile route between the Tashkent region and the Pap district of the Namangan region "Tashkent -Osh" (A -373). This strategically important road is periodically closed in winter because of the threat of avalanches. The new railway should pass along the Uzbek northern border with Tajikistan.
The total length of railways in Uzbekistan is 4,100 kilometers. Some 66 percent of cargo turnover in the country and almost 80 percent of a total volume of export and import cargo transportation fall to the railway.
Uzbekistan joined the World Bank in 1992. The bank's activity in the country is aimed at improving people's livelihood through support for economic reforms, modernization of the infrastructure and the social sectors, providing the Uzbek government and people with knowledge and experience. The total amount of current liabilities of the WB to Uzbekistan is today more than $1.8 billion.
Edited by CN